Appropriated Spending Cuts

Prevent military retirees from signing up for cheapest version of Tricare

Increase passenger fees for airport security

Finance food and safety inspection with fees on meet and egg processing
facilities

That reduced appropriated spending by $191 billion

Entitlement Spending Cuts

Under the category of "cuts to benefits or Entitlements" I clicked everything except ...

Repeal expansion of health-care

Add government run health-care plan

Limit ability to sue doctors

That reduced spending by $445 billion.

Grand Total

$480 billion in increased revenues

$191 billion reduction in appropriated spending

$445 billion reduction in entitlement spending

Pragmatic Approach

The grand total above nets $1,116 billion and a projected $14 billion surplus
for 2020.

I was surprised by how easy this was.

It's not that I thought balancing the budget would be difficult, rather I
have seen these setups before, and they are typically structured as to require
massive, punitive tax hikes.

I was pragmatic.

Readers know I have no love of Obamacare, but the president does. Pragmatically
speaking, repealing Obamacare is simply not an option. Also recall that Republicans
wanted to close loopholes instead of raising taxes. So, for the most part,
I simply closed loopholes.

The compromise (not shown) would have been to raise taxes on those making
$1 million or more instead of those making over $250,000. That option, if provided
and checked (in addition to everything else I checked) would have made the projected
surplus even bigger.

Notice I said projected surplus.

Future revenue assumptions by the CBO are far too optimistic for that surplus
to be valid. However, there is ample room to slash military spending, slash
student aid, and eliminate entire unneeded departments.

A Bit of Compromise and a Lot of Pragmatism

From all the bitching and moaning in Congress, one might think balancing budget
would be impossible. Instead, all it takes is a bit of compromise and a lot
of pragmatism.

Yet, I suppose I may as well ask for world peace because "a bit of compromise
and a lot of pragmatism" from this Congress does seem damn near impossible.